JJ Wetherholt's heroic homecoming breaks off Cardinals losing skid

The St. Louis Cardinals broke free of their recent skid by negating perfection in game one of their four-game set against the Pirates. Not only did the Redbirds take the contest, but the second homecoming hero of the season was born. 

A Game One Winner in the First Division Matchup of 2026

This contest looked like it was over before it even got off the ground. Early in the affair, starter Dustin May was destined for yet another barnburner. Two innings, two runs to initiate his first start against a division opponent for the Redbirds. That was all the Buccos could muster against the red-headed Redbird. 

May settled in and finished his day with six innings, two earned runs, seven hits allowed, and two strikeouts. Not special by any means, but a quality start will play for a team in the midst of 17 games in 17 days. 

Despite May’s quick return to competency, the lineup was muffled by a Pirates bullpen game. First, Pittsburgh trotted out Mason Montgomerey, a southpaw who resides in the high 90s with his fastball, to silence the likes of JJ Wetherholt and Alec Burleson in the first. 

After that, they turned to former Rockies closer Justin Lawrence and his sidearm offering. He shut it down for an inning. Then came the bulk arm, Wilber Dotel. He came out of nowhere to unplug the Redbird offense for three perfect innings. Much like the lefty who kicked things off, his heater was flirting with triple digits. 

St. Louis’ offense was middling, check that, NONEXISTENT, until the seventh inning when Alec Burleson blipped a lucky infield single. The Pirates have never thrown a perfect game in franchise history, and thanks to the persistent announcer jinxing of Chip Caray and Brad Thompson, that will remain true. 

Double Dose of Clutch Bombs

The score remained two to nothing all the way until the ninth inning. Then, the Cardinals hit their runner's high. St. Louis has been watching the game pass them by all afternoon, and suddenly, an unlikely candidate snapped a scoreless streak of over 30 innings at PNC Park. 

Pedro Pages combed a 0-2 pitch from Pirates closer Dennis Santana into the stands to cut the lead in half. Immediately following this canon Cardinal event, Wetherholt had the homecoming his personal crowd had been waiting for. After working the count to three and two, Santana made the mistake of serving up a cookie. If you give JJ a cookie, he’s gonna want a hit too. Wetherholt launched a mammoth solo home run, going back-to-back with Pages to tie what felt like an insurmountable 2-0 deficit. 

It seems like whenever these Cardinals get home cooking, they… cook? Masyn Winn started the trend in his home state of Texas, and Wetherholt keeps things rolling in front of his former teammates from West Virginia University. 

Locking it Down and the Trends

The Cardinals followed their twin blasts with an Ivan Herrera walk (this is becoming quite the normality) and another Burleson infield single. At this rate, Burleson might have to start slipping the grounds crew tips after games. Jordan Walker came up with a chance to take the lead, and instead, he did something equally as important: remained patient. Santana tried to draw him out of the strike zone with a heavy dosage of sliders. The slumbering Walker remained resilient and took a base on balls.

With the bags juiced and two out, Jose Fermin, who has been dubbed "Joey Chicklets" by the St. Louis broadcast booth, came out swinging and struck a hanger down the left field line to bring in two runs. The Cardinals then led 4-2, after what felt like ages of offensive suffering in Steel City. 

George Soriano came on to finish a quiet ninth and earn himself a save. The Cardinals didn’t just win today; they broke free of recent trends. Walker took ball four when tempted by those devilish sliders, the bullpen held it down behind their starter (shoutout Ryan Fernandez), and the losing streak ended at four games. Good teams scratch off wins even when they aren’t playing like a good team. St. Louis didn’t deserve to win tonight, and that’s exactly why this one meant just a little bit more. 

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